Respiratory virus season has arrived. lu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines

SEATTLE — There's a bit of a chill in the air, pumpkin spice in your coffee, and children back to school — which means the threat of respiratory viruses like COVID-19, influenza and RSV is looming.

Some respiratory illnesses have arrived already. Seasonal influenza activity is still low at the national level, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

But certain flu metrics are inching up – especially in the West. Health officials in Washington state's King County note that since mid-August there has been an increase in people with flu visiting emergency departments in the area.

Vaccines that help prevent illness and reduce the risk of serious infections and hospitalization are now available, and for some people, this is the right time to roll up their sleeves.

Typically, the CDC launches a fall campaign around this time of year, recommending seasonal immunizations such as the flu shot and COVID-19 vaccines. But after sweeping changes to the agency's vaccine advisory committee during the second Trump administration and ongoing lawsuits, the CDC recently posted guidance online to follow last year's recommendations for flu and COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association and the University of Minnesota's Vaccine Integrity Project launched their own independent reviews of this fall's vaccines – including those for flu, COVID and RSV – which was published in September in the medical journal JAMA.

The review papers helped inform 2026-27 respiratory virus immunization recommendations released by several medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

"For more than 60 years, the United States has benefited from an established federal process for evaluating vaccine evidence and translating that science into recommendations for the American public. At the center of that process were the Centers for Disease Control and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the ACIP," Dr. Bruce Gellin, board chair of the Vaccine Integrity Project and professor of medicine at Georgetown University, said at a news briefing.

"Unfortunately today, the federal government is not fulfilling that responsibility in the way that it historically has. But the need for that work has not disappeared. Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and the RSV viruses will circulate again this fall and winter," Gellin said.

"Clinicians will still have patients to care for. Parents will still have decisions to make for their children, and older Americans, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions will still need to know how best to protect themselves," he said. "We cannot allow the breakdown of a federal process to create a vacuum in evidence-based vaccine guidance."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not responded to CNN's request for comment on the groups' recommendations.

Flu, COVID-19 and RSV immunizations are now available at most major pharmacies.

"And really reassuringly, insurers have indicated to the major groups that they will cover these respiratory virus immunizations," Dr. Sarah Nosal, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said in a news briefing.

Ordering through Vaccines for Children, the federal program that provides routine immunizations at no cost to children who are uninsured or underinsured or whose families may not otherwise be able to afford them, has also started. About half of U.S. children are eligible for the program.

"Vaccines are one of medicine's greatest success stories. They prevent serious illness, reduce hospitalizations and long-term complications and save lives," Nosal said in a news release. "As federal guidance evolves, the science behind vaccines remains strong. These recommendations are grounded in the latest evidence, informed by public health experts and shaped by what family physicians are seeing every day in their patients."

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